MORE TIT-FOR-TAT EXPULSIONS BETWEEN USSR AND BRITAIN

ByJulian BaumMay 24, 1989

LONDON
— The cold war between East and West may have ended, but diplomatic expulsions by London and Moscow show how difficult it is to break old habits. Britain has been unable to contain the damage from ordering home 11 Soviet diplomats and journalists on espionage charges last week. The Soviet Union retaliated first with the expulsion of an equal number of Britons, and now says it will sharply cut the number of British employees in Moscow.

The diplomatic spat followed a warning earlier this year from Sir Geoffrey Howe, Britain's foreign secretary, that Soviet espionage had intensified since Mikhail Gorbachev came to power.